Sderot Petitions Israel High Court..Make them Protect Us

Calls from the IDF, the Defense Minister, the opposition leader, and members of his cabinet —NOTHING has worked to push Olmert off his behind and allow his military to protect Israeli citizens. Residents of hard hit Sderot are taking a different approach; they are taking the government to court. As reported in the Jerusalem Post:

A group of Sderot residents are set to submit a petition to the High Court of Justice to instruct the cabinet to react more harshly to Kassam rocket attacks against their city, it was reported on Friday.

One of the architects of the petition, Avi Farhan, told Army Radio that he was “sure that if one Kassam was fired on Tel Aviv, Ramat Gan or Ramat Aviv, the government would have acted long ago.”

“I hope that the High Court will correct this injustice and order the government to act and to stop gambling with our lives,” he added.

On Thursday, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert decided to continue with his policy of restraint despite an additional six Kassam rockets fired.

At least two more were fired today

The continuation of the restraint policy came amid increasing calls from cabinet ministers, including Defense Minister Amir Peretz, for Israel to respond to the infractions.

Meanwhile, Alon Shuster, head of the Sha’ar Hanegev Regional Council, warned the government not to embark on a full-scale attack in the Gaza Strip, similar to Operation Defensive Shield, without first defending the residents on the Home Front.

During an interview with Israel Radio on Friday morning, Shuster added that the residents of the area felt abandoned and that the situation on the southern front was even more severe than the situation on the northern front at the outbreak the Second Lebanon War.

On Friday afternoon, the NRP-NU faction slammed the government for its continued policy of restraint in the face of Kassam rocket attacks.

“The policy of the government proves that there is no need to remove the current gambling restrictions, under the government’s approval, because already now the government is gambling with the lives of Sderot and Ashkelon residents, and despite its losses as a compulsive gambler, it is trying again and again,” the faction said in a statement released ahead of the security cabinet debate on the issue, which is set for Sunday.

On Friday morning, a Kassam rocket, fired from the Gaza Strip, landed just outside Sderot. No one was wounded and no damage was reported.

To the residents of Sderot…Yashir Koach !

Become a Lid Insider

Sign up for our free email newsletter, and we'll make sure to keep you in the loop.